The Mumbai Cricket Association announced its squad for the first two matches of the Ranji Trophy 2024 on Monday, January 1. The veteran Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane continues to lead the team but star opener Prithvi Shaw fails to recover from a knee injury he suffered in August 2023.
The 15-member squad consists majority of the players from the previous edition with the likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Suved Parkar, Shams Mulani, Tushar Deshpande and Dhawal Kulkarni forming a strong setup for the 2024 edition. Yashasvi Jaiswal is the only high-profile name missing out for the first two matches as he remains part of the national team since making his debut in July 2023.
The 18-year-old spin all-rounder Musheer Khan, a younger brother of Sarfaraz Khan, also misses the squad due to his involvement with the India U19 team for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa.
Meanwhile, Rahane topped the scoring chart in the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai last season while Shaw was the best batter after the captain with 595 runs in six games at an average of 59.50 with one hundred. Both Rahane and Sahw will be looking to prove their worth in hopes of making a return to international cricket.
Mumbai will open their Ranji Trophy campaign against Bihar at Patna’s Moin Ul Haq Stadium starting on January 5 and next face Andhra at the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy Ground from January 12.
Mumbai remain the most successful team in the Ranji Trophy tournament with 39 titles in 88 editions but haven’t won the tournament since 2014. Mumbai failed to reach the knockouts last season as they finished fourth in Elite Group B with just three wins in seven matches.
Mumbai squad Ranji Trophy 2024 (for first two matches): Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Suved Parkar, Shams Mulani, Hardik Tamore (wk), Prasad Pawar (wk), Jay Bista, Bhupen Lalwani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Avasthi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Royston Dias, Atharva Ankolekar